BioWorks Partners With DCM Corp. To Offer Premium Fertilizers

BioWorks, Inc., a provider of environmentally responsible, safe and effective growing solutions, announced that it has entered a strategic alliance with DCM Corporation of Belgium, a leading producer of natural and organic-based fertilizers in Western Europe.

The premier fertilizer product line that will be offered by BioWorks in the U.S. will be branded under the trade name Verdanta. Verdanta will include organic and organo-mineral fertilizers for professional horticulture and specialty agriculture growers.

BioWorks plans to offer Verdanta fertilizers to growers of greenhouse ornamentals and vegetables, specialty agriculture and nursery and landscape plants in the latter part of 2012.

“This partnership represents BioWorks’ next exciting chapter. Growers trust our people, products and service; having the DCM name behind Verdanta will serve to strengthen that trust,” says Bill Foster, BioWorks president and CEO. “We are honored by the confidence DCM has placed in us and excited about the opportunities.”

The high quality fertilizers manufactured by DCM allow BioWorks to offer plant nutrition products that enable growers to cultivate better and healthier crops. These products also help save time and money, while providing worker and environmental benefits.

“DCM has spent more than 30 years developing premium quality, leading-edge and environmentally responsible soil fertility products,” says Tom De Ceuster, CEO of DCM Corporation. “The excellent reputations of DCM and BioWorks will be the foundation of a successful partnership.”

Verdanta fertilizers will initially include two liquid and three granular formulations. The granular fertilizers are developed using Minigran Technology — a unique formulation providing dust-free, organic and organo-mineral microgranules with a homogeneous composition that assures a perfectly uniform nutrient analysis in every granule. It flows freely through all types of application equipment and offers better control of nutrient release. (See Verdanta-DCM-Minigran)

“We are very excited about the opportunity to introduce such quality fertilizers to the professional horticulture market,” says Joe Gionta, BioWorks director of sales and marketing. “With these products, growers will see more uniform plant growth and greener, fuller crops due to the carefully selected, high-quality raw materials that provide continuous gradual nutrient release.”

Dr. Lori Hoagland, Assistant Professor of Horticulture and Landscape Architecture of Purdue University, Dr. Neil Mattson, Assistant Professor of Horticulture of Cornell University and Dr. Kim Williams, Professor of Greenhouse Management at Kansas State University, recently visited Belgium to tour DCM Corp.’s manufacturing facility, local field and greenhouse growers, and research organizations to learn more about the development and use of these fertilizers in Western Europe.

“I was very impressed with the technology behind these fertilizers and look forward to participating in the evaluation of their performance in the States,” says Dr. Williams.

Five heating systems manufacturers share their latest and greatest products. Tubing And Aluminum Heat Pipes (BioTherm) From Megatube and MicroClimate tubing to DuoFin and StarFin aluminum heat pipe, BioTherm is dedicated to providing heat solutions that can withstand the toughest greenhouse environments. The MegaTube and MicroClimate tubing options are easy to install and ideal for bench or floor heating. The tubing has a conductive heating surface that allows for maximum root-zone heating. The DuoFin and StarFin aluminum pipe options are great for perimeter heating and melting snow trapped in the greenhouse gutter. It can also be useful for bench heating. Both pipe options provide gentle, radiant heat for plants and don’t require welding. TrueLeaf.net Infinite Energy 2 Condensing Boiler (Delta T Solutions) With up to 98 percent efficiency, the IE2 condensing boiler boasts a stainless steel heat exchanger with larger waterways to ensure maximum heat transfer. The product’s design ensures flexibility while […]

All-America Selections (AAS) has stepped forward with another first when promoting AAS Winners, this time in the form of cooking videos using vegetables/edibles that have performed extremely well in the AAS Trials. These days, a love of gardening is directly related to a passion for cooking. Tying the two together is a natural when marketing joys of cooking with fresh vegetables from the garden and farm market. After 82 years of conducting trials where only the best performers are declared AAS Winners, the organization now has more than 325 individual varieties that have been “Tested Nationally & Proven Locally.” It is some of these many varieties that culinary storyteller, entertainer and horticulture industry veteran Jonathan Bardzik will use in a series of five videos demonstrating cooking techniques with AAS Winning herbs and vegetables. “I am excited to partner with All-America Selections to show people across the country that AAS Winners perform […]

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As growers look for new ways to cut costs and conserve resources, fertilizer and equipment companies are offering products that strive to save water, reduce toxic runoff and keep chemicals out of the equation.

The new 16-4-17 Hydroponic Fertilizer from OASIS Grower Solutions (OGS) is a one-bag solution that replaces two-part systems traditionally used by commercial hydroponic growers. It is specifically formulated for commercial hydroponic production of lettuce, herbs and vegetables.

New fertilizer products not only deliver optimum nutrition, they also provide for easier application and increased efficiency. Check out these new products to help your operation produce a healthy crop in 2014. Click through on the pages below.

EcoVita, a homogeneous granular organic fertilizer, has been added to Bioworks Inc.’s Verdanta biofertilizers product family. This fertilizer will be manufactured and supplied to BioWorks by DCM Corporation of Belgium, a producer of natural and organic-based fertilizers in Western Europe. EcoVita is suitable for a wide variety of crops with its gentle release curve including:• Organic fertilization as a base nutrition in potting mixes• Leafy vegetables• Fruiting vegetables (s a top dressing) • Roses and other ornamentals The new fertilizer offers long-lasting and continuous action for 75 to 100 days and contains organic phosphorus (5 percent P2O5) for fast rooting. Nutrients in EcoVita are gradually released by the soil microbes, in addition to producing humus for better rooting and less leaching. EcoVita is OMRI Listed, making it suitable for use in organic production. “We’re pleased to introduce EcoVita 7-5-10 as our organic NPK product to complement our organic products: K-Vita 2-0-20 […]

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Compared to other variable costs, fertilizers are not the largest part of the budget in conventional greenhouse production. Nevertheless, over the course of the season, mistakes in fertilizer use can lead to significant damages or crop losses. That makes this an important topic for ornamental growers who are experimenting with growing vegetable crops. This article will emphasize major differences between fertilizers used in vegetable production and in ornamentals production. The different nutrition strategies, monitoring and water volume per plant will also be explained. Fertilizer In ornamental production, nutrients are delivered using various water-soluble fertilizers through a fertilizer injector, through the use of controlled-release fertilizers, or a combination of the two. There are numerous fertilizer mixes available with all the needed nutrients already included. The fertilization rate is often given in parts per million (ppm) of nitrogen (N), which is a way of expressing the fertilizer concentration. At younger stages, plants will […]

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Everris has introduced its new E-Max Release Technology, a proprietary coating chemistry for use on a wide variety of nutrient components that are incorporated into controlled-release fertilizer products. According to Chris Buchheit, marketing manager for Everris’ ornamental horticulture products, E-Max will help Osmocote and the company’s other existing brands deliver even better performance and value. “This coating will aid in the development of products that both complement and enhance our Osmocote portfolio and other fertilizer lines. It will increase Everris’ flexibility to create customized nutrition programs designed for horticulture growers,” Buchheit says. E-Max Release Technology is a durable, cutting-edge, reacted polymer coating for use on a variety of essential macro- and micronutrients. Nutrients coated with E-Max Technology are produced to the same performance standards as Osmocote. It will allow for continued expansion of the Everris portfolio, the ability to further enhance nutritional values and an efficient use of a grower’s […]